The World of Surveillance: Cameras Everywhere

Siobhan McDonough On Apr 18, 2005

WASHINGTON -- It's there when you ride an elevator and make a
purchase in a store. There's no escaping it in a museum. Look up at the
stoplight and a camera may be watching you. Being lens-shy just doesn't
cut it in today's camera-crazed world. Chances are, during a good part
of your day, there's a camera nudging into your private space.

There's no doubt surveillance cameras can aid police and protect
property. Videos showing crimes are played routinely on news programs to
help catch perpetrators.

But those same cameras can make people feel violated and uneasy. Their
broad sweep makes no distinction between revelers at a parade and
wrongdoers at a riot. And they never blink.

Nikki Barnett, 31, of Burtonsville, Md., stopped showcasing her "happy
dance" in elevators after learning many of them are monitored by
cameras. "I stopped doing silly things," she says. "I don't want to
portray myself in a certain light."

Closed-circuit cameras are spreading in cities, a trend hastened by
concerns about terrorist attacks but by other reasons, too, including
the mere availability of the technology.

"If I'm mugged at an ATM, I'm glad the bank has cameras so the person
can be tracked down," said Justine Stevens, 32, of Arlington, Va. "But
cameras in elevators monitoring behavior seems weird."

Indeed, for every videotaped image of a crime that leads to an arrest
there are dozens of perfectly innocent moments captured.

"Cameras used for specific suspects and at specific times, that's good
law enforcement," said Peter Swire, professor of law at Ohio State
University. "But I don't want it part of my permanent record every time
I scratch myself on a public street."

In Nashville, Tenn., a middle school installed cameras that parents, in
a $4.2 million lawsuit, said captured their kids in various stages of
locker-room undress. School officials say the cameras were put up in
plain view to watch an outside door and hallway.

Some are discreetly placed in elevator ceilings and lamp posts. Others
are more obvious, such as one fixed near an American flag adorning the
Justice Department.

Some closed-circuit cameras run around-the-clock. Others come on for
specific events. In Washington, 14 police cameras roll during parades,
demonstrations and when the city goes on high alert. They are turned on
a half-dozen or so times a year, and the police department publicizes
it.

Kevin Morison, the department's spokesman, said there was a lot of
hyperbole when the cameras were introduced. Critics claimed police were
watching people leave home to go to work, then come home at night.
"Frankly, we have no interest in doing that, or capacity to do that," he
said.

That system is part of a larger one. At a police command center, feeds
from those cameras are watched along with those from the city's subway
system, transportation department and more.

Critics contend the camera lies or at least misleads. An innocent
conversation can appear conspiratorial, depending on the angle, the
lighting or many other factors.

But Paul Rosenzweig, senior legal research fellow at the conservative
Heritage Foundation, said today's world demands that people be more open
to the use of cameras.

"You can't sweep back the tide of technological development and you
can't blink your eyes to necessity," he said. "We are in a changed
circumstance today. For us, September 11 brings it home."

Chicago is working on plans to link more than 2,000 public surveillance
cameras in a network that would use sophisticated software to alert
authorities to potential crimes.

In Los Angeles, the police department recently deployed a remote camera
surveillance system that is used to identify, track and record criminal
activity in some parts of the city. The system is equipped with
"intelligent" video capabilities and facial recognition software.

New Orleans is installing a sophisticated crime-fighting system of
bulletproof cameras, each capable of eyeing an eight-block area. So far,
about 240 of the proposed 1,000 cameras are in operation.

New Orleans officials say their system has plenty of safeguards against
abuse. Cameras are not routinely monitored and video is stored for a
brief period, to be watched if a crime is reported. Only a few officers
have access to the video and they look at it only in response to a
specific report, officials said.